Links to Data Sets

There are various sourcers of data out there which you might find useful, depending on the concept you have chosen.

British Social Attitudes - "Every year the British Social Attitudes survey asks over 3,000 people what it's like to live in Britain and how they think Britain is run. Since 1983 the survey has been tracking people's changing social, political and moral attitudes. It informs the development of public policy and is an important barometer of public attitudes used by opinion leaders and social commentators." (BSA)

British Election Survey - "The British Election Study (BES) has been conducted at every General Election since 1964. The study looks at why people vote, and why they vote the way they do. The BES covers the following main subject areas: political preferences and values; dispositions to engage in different forms of political activity; and individual and household socio-demographic characteristics." (ESRC)

Neighbourhood Statistics - "Neighbourhood Statistics contains over 300 datasets, covering Health, Housing, Education, Deprivation, Age, Ethnicity and 2001 Census data; around 1 billion counts of information; data down to neighbourhood level (often to areas of around 250 people in size); on-line e-learning to guide users through the site; and a statistical toolkit to help users understand the data" (wikipedia)

World Value Survey - "The survey, which started in 1981, seeks to use the most rigorous, high-quality research designs in each country. The WVS consists of nationally representative surveys conducted in almost 100 countries which contain almost 90 percent of the world’s population, using a common questionnaire. (...) The WVS seeks to help scientists and policy makers understand changes in the beliefs, values and motivations of people throughout the world. Thousands of political scientists, sociologists, social psychologists, anthropologists and economists have used these data to analyze such topics as economic development, democratization, religion, gender equality, social capital, and subjective well-being." (WVS)

Understanding Society - This is a unique and valuable academic study that captures important information about the social and economic circumstances and attitudes of people living in 40,000 UK households. The survey’s size, scope and breadth mean it is painting a portrait of 21st century life in the UK that is more accurate and more detailed than has ever been possible before. Each year respondents provide information on their socio-economic background, employment conditions, aspirations and expectations about the future, health and happiness, family and friends, political attitudes, religion and leisure engagement.

Millennium Cohort Study - This is the most recent of the UK's world renowned cohort studies, following the lives of around 19,000 children born in the UK in 2000-2001. MCS's field of enquiry covers such diverse topics as parenting; childcare; school choice; child behaviour and cognitive development; child and parental health; parents’ employment and education; income and poverty; housing, neighbourhood and residential mobility; and social capital and ethnicity. Five surveys of MCS cohort members have been carried out so far (at age nine months, three, five, seven, and eleven years), providing a unique portrait of the children of the new century.

Crime Survey for England and Wales - This survey measures the extent of Crime in England and Wales by asking people whether they have experienced any crime in the past year. As well as measuring crime, this study looks at: 1) identifying those most at risk of crime, which is used in designing crime prevention programme, 2) People’s attitudes to crime and the Criminal Justice System, including the police and the courts, and 3) People’s experiences of anti-social behaviour and how this has affected their quality of life.

Health Survey for England - This is a series of annual surveys about the health of people living in England. The study first started in 1991 and is often used to help plan NHS Services, look at ways of improving people's health and changes to the nation's health over time, and at inequalities at health.